Serial underwear thief caught on camera in Virginia

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RICHMOND, Va. -- Police in Richmond, Virginia now know who they are looking for after a string of thefts from city laundromats.

Timothy Lott, 54, is accused of going from laundromat to laundromat and stealing women’s underwear, according to WTVR.

Lott was captured on surveillance video in August, police say. And they say he is at it again, striking recently at two more laundromats.

"It's a pattern that I just want to put a stop to,” Al Bingenheimer, who owns several laundromats in the city, told WTVR. “I want my customers to feel safe and comfortable, and I don't need a guy rummaging through the clothes of females to get a key piece of what he wants."

Bingenheimer said he personally followed Lott to another location on October 20th and witnessed him walk in. He said Lott grabbed a few pieces of clothing from a machine that a woman had just loaded her laundry into and then ran back to his car.

"It's scary because this guy is going through washers and dryers to get what he wants," said Courtland Marsh, who lives close to one of the laundromats. She said it's convenient to drop a load off of clothes and return later.

She's now rethinking that.

She said the thefts are creepy, and she hoped it doesn't turn into something worse.

"What if he tries to get a person you know?" Marsh asked.

Be aware of your surroundings is the message from Richmond Police.

"We have beautiful neighborhoods in the Fan and Museum Districts and we don't want it to be tarnished by one guy doing stupid things," said Bingenheimer.